ATandT Gets Makeover, Prepares for Nationwide Netbook Rollout

AT&T updates its more than 2,200 retail locations, making products easier to locate and try out. The makeover announcement comes just days before AT&T will greatly expand its subsidized netbook lineup, which includes Dell and Acer mininotebooks plus service offerings.

The stores' products and services are now more intuitively organized, according
to AT&T.

Additionally, the carrier said in a statement July 21 that "all wireless
devices are now showcased on new power-enabled displays that will make it
easier for customers to experience interactive applications like social
networking and personal navigation or to compare and contrast features like
touch-screens versus full QWERTY keyboards."

The aim is to help consumers and small business customers more easily find, try
out and, of course, purchase products-especially once, "in the coming
days," the carrier offers its subsidized netbook nationally. So far, the
successful offer has been limited to Atlanta
and Philadelphia.

AT&T will also soon be making its ConnecTech services available for
purchase in its retail locations. The service includes next-day, in-home
service; 24/7 remote support for netbook installation and setup; laptop
performance optimization and diagnosis; the installation of peripheral devices
and wireless networks; and the option of a home network security audit.

More than half of AT&T's stores now offer wired and wireless products and
services, and more than 700 locations offer bilingual services. Additionally,
the representatives in the AT&T Call
Center offer assistance in,
combined, more than 160 languages.

"Just as we are focused on delivering the products and services that
connect our customers to their worlds, we remain committed to making it easy
for them to do business with us," Paul Roth, AT&T's president of
retail sales and services, said in the statement.

Michelle Maisto has been covering the enterprise mobility space for a decade, beginning with Knowledge Management, Field Force Automation and eCRM, and most recently as the editor-in-chief of Mobile Enterprise magazine. She earned an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University, and in her spare time obsesses about food. Her first book, The Gastronomy of Marriage, if forthcoming from Random House in September 2009.